The Knackers Yard
by Wandering Dawn
Summary: AU. There are no hunger games; that doesn't mean the Capitol can't instill fear. Ten minute warning. One, two; they're coming for you. Three, four; they'll be at your door. Five six; gotta keep your wits. Seven, eight; feel their hate. Nine, ten; never seen again.


**AN: Okay, so I KNOW i should be working on my other two fics, but this little plot bunny came to my mind as I was walking home from essay writing in the library and I just couldn't not write it up! I will also be updating both my other two fics tonight because I feel I owe you guys. but hey, on with the show! :D**

**The song was adapted from nightmare on elm street and everything else you recognize belongs to suzanne collins.**

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**_ONE, TWO; THEY'RE COMING FOR YOU. _**

I knew it would end like this. It always did. If you didn't starve or die from infection then you died like this. There was no such thing as old age under the Capitol regime. Once you were no longer of use to them you were taken away and executed. We called the town square the knackers yard because, like horses, we were forced to work our entire lives until we were slaughtered for going bad. It was an inevitability. Once the gadget embedded into your wrist turned from green to red you had ten minutes in which to say goodbye to everyone who mattered to you. They usually came for you during the day, made a spectacle of it so that everyone knew their fate. Your last dying moment was spent in shame because the whole town knew you could no longer fulfil your purpose. You could no longer be what you were born to be. You were a failure.

And failure was unacceptable in the Capitol's eyes.

It was punishable by death.

I still remember when I got my gadget clear as day, despite it being almost six years ago now.

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_There was a sharp pain as I turned my head away, hating the sight of even my own blood. I felt the scalpel cut into my wrist in an elongated oval shape before something cool and plastic was inserted into the wound, the wires embedding themselves in the open muscle tissue, wrapping around each cell and rooting themselves in like a tree. They never gave anaesthetic when they did this. We were to be punished for our ancestors' sins. Our own sins. Gritting my teeth against the feeling of disgust I felt the rubbing alcohol pour over the wound, an involuntary noise creeping up the back of my throat and I squirmed in pain. However, I swallowed it. I didn't want to give them the satisfaction. _

_Once satisfied the nurse sent me on my way and I walked off, allowing the next person to take my place, not even bothering to cradle my arm like most of the others were doing. Many were also crying. But I didn't care. I would never give them the satisfaction of knowing that I was in pain or that I was terrified at what that little device now embedded into my wrist meant._

_It was when I got home and saw the little green glowing oval in Peeta's wrist that I let all my emotion go. He didn't deserve this. He was the kindest person to ever grace the earth he deserved to be exempt and to live a long happy life, not be weighed down by fear of imminent death. _

_He pulled me close into his chest and cradled me, rocking back and forth slowly, giving me the comfort that would never quite be enough now that we had these stupid things in our wrists. "It's okay, you're okay." _

_"I'm fine," I sobbed. _

_I could almost feel his smile. "Yeah? Then why are you crying?" _

_"Allergies." He laughed softly, holding me tighter against him. _

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The moment I felt it burn against my skin I looked down, noticing it turn red, and rushed out of the door of the apothecary and down to our house. Banging open the door, I knew Peeta would be there, where I left him after he had gotten his leg caught in the grinder at the bakery. I ran over to him and showed him my gadget had also turned red. Peeta followed my arm up to my face, noticing that my other hand was shaking from where I had purposely broken it. He shook his head in despair, a wail leaving his throat, making him sound like an injured animal. He knew why I had done it. But that didn't mean he wanted me to do it.

**_THREE, FOUR; THEY'LL BE AT YOUR DOOR. _**

"Katniss, no! You shouldn't have done it!" he cried, tears slipping down his cheeks in little rivers.

I took his face in my hands and sat down on the sofa beside him. "Peeta, you know I couldn't ever live without you."

"But the baby." I sighed, we had found out I was pregnant not two weeks ago. Now it was all over. I knew they would keep me around purely for the fact that I would have a little worker inside of me, but then, with no husband to work and no child within me, I was a dead woman anyway. The child would be taken to the workhouse where Prim and I were forced to go after the death of my father and my mother being taken to the knackers yard because she went insane without him and could no longer work. It wasn't the fate I wanted for my baby. Our baby.

"Peeta, you know what would happen. I can't be around to look after it, which is why no one must know. I will not have it succumb to the same fate as me and Prim." A small tear escaped me as I said her name, her loss still weighing down upon my shoulders, even all these years later. "I love you. I can't life without you."

"I love you too," he whispered, reaching up to encircle my face in his palms, pulling me towards him in an earth shattering kiss that conveyed every ounce of love he felt for me. I felt tears begin to slip from my own eyes as I realised this would be the last time I ever kissed him like this again. Just then, a loud banging came from the other side of our door.

**_FIVE, SIX; GOTTA KEEP YOUR WITS. _**

"Peeta," I whispered frantically, pulling away and wiping quickly at my eyes. "We don't have much time, but I wanted to do this. I want to show the Capitol that no matter what, they don't own us." I pulled out the bag I had from the Apothecary and showed him the contents. His eyes widened for a moment upon realization but a slow smirk crept upon his face as he nodded. I poured some of the contents into his hand and held my finger to my lips before taking the rest and hiding the bag.

The banging continued before they got bored and kicked the door in, breaking it's latch and holding the guns at us, telling us to put out hands where they could see them. Peeta and I put our fists behind our heads both looking at each other for a mutual signal. But I shook my head, just a small twitch to let him know that it wasn't time. Unless you were looking for it, you would have never noticed it.

The two peacekeepers walked over to us, sneering at the two of us together, both crying and unable to avoid our fate. Little did they know that we had a plan.

**_SEVEN, EIGHT; FEEL THEIR HATE. _**

We were dragged through the town square, a horn blowing to signal that everyone had to come to witness the two failures of the system. We were taken up to the podium set in the middle of the square. The knackers yard. I could feel the eyes upon me from everyone, but I felt no humiliation, like I was supposed to. They looked at us with sympathy. The man who had lost his leg in a tragic accident and the woman who couldn't live without him and broke her own hand beyond repair. Neither of us had family, they had all been taken to the knackers yard or had been in tragic accidents before this. It was the end of the Everdeen and Mellark lines. But that didn't tear me up inside as it should have, because no child should be brought into a world like this. and I would be damned if I let my child grow up an orphan in this world.

"Do either of you have any last words?" The peacekeeper asked, sneering in my face once more, spitting slightly in his glee. It reminded me of an old song my dad used to sing when he was alive. _Are you, are you coming to the tree. Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be, if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree._

I simply smirked back at him before turning to Peeta. "Yes I have one last word. Now." And before the peacekeeper knew what was happening we both ate the nightlock berries in our hands, the tart sweetness bursting on my tongue as we stared into each other's eyes. The berries didn't take long to work, dad used to say you'd be dead before they hit your stomach. So instead of keeping my attention focused upon the peacekeeper I reached out and squeezed Peeta's hand in defiance, reassuring him that we did the right thing. Then we both fell into each other's arms, holding tightly to one another as we keeled over. Dead. But not before we heard the cheer of the crowd who realised what we had done before the peacekeeper had.

**_NINE, TEN; NEVER SEEN AGAIN. _**

_Are you, are you coming to the tree where I told you to run, so we'd both be free. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be if we met up at midnight in the hanging tree._

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**AN: please review and let me know what you think! **


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